EDISON (19-8)

Big Win: Without a doubt, the division-clinching win at South Brunswick was a gut-check with a rewarding finish. Up 5-1 early, the Vikings rallied twice late, pulling to within a run and threatening to snatch the title away before the Eagles finally escaped with a little revenge (for a 6-2 loss earlier in the season) and a little hardware.Valiant Effort: Nobody was hitting on the final Saturday of the season, as four GMC semifinalists plated a combined four runs; Edison was on the losing end of a 1-0 decision, but finished as the last Red representative standing in the field and came painstakingly close to handing South Plainfield a second straight loss after 23 consecutive wins.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK (14-9)

Big Win: Though they didn’t bring home a division crown, the Vikings held the lead for much of the season, which was no easy task. One of the biggest hurdles was an April 23 trip to J.P. Stevens, where they trailed 3-0 to the red-hot Hawks. But an RBI single was misplayed into two extra runs, and South Brunswick quickly added the go-ahead run to pull out their fifth straight win.Valiant Effort: With a chance to put away the Red Division title, South Brunswick dug itself an early 5-1 hole against Edison, and lost left fielder Jen Resnick to injury after she ran through the fence trying to corrall a home run. Though they would ultimately come up short, the Vikings rallied around their fallen teammate, and nearly put together a Hollywood ending, falling 5-4.

EAST BRUNSWICK (24-7)

Big Win: Just 48 hours after the defending GMCT champions saw their repeat bid end in the quarterfinals, they took out some frustration on West Windsor-Plainsboro South, knocking a few timely hits and making a few key plays to secure their first sectional title in nearly a decade.Valiant Effort: The Bears didn’t do much wrong in a 1-0 loss to South Plainfield in the GMC Tournament quarters, but the Tigers won the race to push home run in the sixth, and a great catch kept an East Brunswick rally from blossoming in the seventh as the champs didn’t go down without a fight.

J.P. STEVENS (20-9)

Big Win: A win over Hillsborough finally earned them a North 2 Group IV title, and the win over rival Edison in the semis sure felt good. But the tipping point came in the quarters — it wasn’t pretty, but a 7-4 win over heavily-favored and top-seeded Hunterdon Central showed the Hawks exactly what they were capable of, and the eighth seed rode it all the way to the state semis.Valiant Effort: The semis, though, was the end of the line. Despite taking a 2-1 lead late, eventual Group IV champion Morris Knolls had an answer, and snuck out of soggy Yancataw Park in Nutley with a 3-2 win, bringing an end to the GMC softball season.

WOODBRIDGE (14-9)

Big Win: Though the Barrons couldn’t quite keep up the breakneck pace, at one point they were an impressive 11-2, with the keystone win coming April 10 at the Colonia Classic. Against eventual Somerset County Tournament winner and North 2 Group IV runner-up Hillsborough, Woodbridge dmoinated, rolling to a 12-3 win that kept them unbeaten at the time at 6-0.Valiant Effort: With their season on the line, the Barrons had six innings to try and answer South Brunswick’s early run in a GMCT first-round game in Monmouth Junction. The run never came, but the Viking lead never got any bigger either, as Woodbridge gave it all they had in the rubber match between the two.

OLD BRIDGE (3-16)

Big Win: The Knights faced a lot of adversity as they started to rebuild after heavy off-season losses, but one highlight was a dramatic 8-7 win in extras against Perth Amboy back on April 14. After leading 4-0, Old Bridge watched the Panthers claw back to tie things up 7-7, but got the clutch hit in the home seventh to win it.Valiant Effort: Two days after that win, the Knights nearly pulled of an upset that might have put an end to J.P. Stevens’ magical run well before it even started. Old Bridge took a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh, but the Hawks struck for single runs in the seventh and eighth to escape. A few days later, J.P. Stevens pulled off back-to-back wins over Edison and East Brunswick.

PERTH AMBOY (3-13)

Big Win: It was a month and three days later that the Panthers finally got a shot at revenge for that extra-inning loss to Old Bridge, and they took advantage by grabbing a 4-3 win in the play-in round of the GMC Tournament. It took a pair of bases-loaded walks, but Perth Amboy wasn’t complaining.Valiant Effort: In the next round against Woodbridge, the Panthers defense stepped it up to limit the Barrons — who had scored 21 runs in two regular season meetings — to just four runs, three on a home run in the third. But Perth Amboy couldn’t muster any hits, and saw their season conclude with a hard-fought 4-0 loss.

PISCATAWAY (1-20)

Big Win: Do you think the Chiefs were tired of losing? Franklin sure does, after Piscataway snapped an 18-game slide with a dominant 20-1 win over their neighbors across the river. It was 7-1 going into the top of the seventh, and the then-winless Chiefs broke things open with 13 runs in the top of the seventh to put an exclamation point on things.Valiant Effort: One day after nearly pulling off a stunning rally against Perth Amboy, the Chiefs were at it again April 8, turning a 6-0 deficit in the sixth into a narrow 7-5 loss to Spotswood.

About Mike New

Mike New is former writer at the Home News Tribune, having covered Middlesex County softball in 2009 and 2010. A 2008 graduate of Rutgers University, he served as sports editor and managing editor of The Daily Targum. Now an assistant in the publishing world, he has returned to In the Paint and will be a weekly contributor on Sundays.